TT Games

I wasn’t expecting much from Traveller’s Tales latest Lego game. Over the years, the developer hit a rut creatively. The team refined, refined, refined its solid team-based gameplay through Star Wars franchise, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter andPirates of the Caribbean. The first few games were good, but after so many sequels and iterations, the formula grew stale.

I anticipated more of the same from Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, and it started off that way. The Caped Crusader and Robin team up to fight the Joker who has invaded Gotham’s Man of the Year award show. The Dynamic Duo crashed through the theater via the Batboat and they’re off battling henchmen in the frachise’s simple beat-’em up style.

I wouldn’t call the recent Harry Potter games awful. Serviceable? Yes. Putrid? No. They’ve just been swallowed up by the lingering stereotype that all movie-based games belong in the trash rather than store shelves.

The only way movie franchises escape this fate seems to be if “LEGO” is placed in front of their titles. The word acts like magic giving any franchise the aura of respectability and fun. Look what it did for Indiana Jones. Before Batman: Arkham Asylum, Lego Batman was the top Caped Crusader title. And don’t get me started on what it did for the Star Wars prequels. Credit Traveller’s Tales for building a brand and reputation that gamers can count on.

Jonathan Smith, head of production at TT Games, said they’ll be some familiar elements for fans combined with the humor that the developer is known for. The most obvious difference is that LEGO characters don’t talk. They gesture, they mumble their moods, they goof off, but players shouldn’t expect Harry to shout out spells or wax euphoric about being a wizard. This isn’t a deal-breaker for me and it helps with the game’s light mood. By now, fans should already know the shape of the plots and LEGO Harry Potter doesn’t try to one-up the words that are already on the page.

“The games area is an area that intrigues us,” said [Time Warner CFO John] Martin at an investor conference in Arizona.

Jokes about being intrigued by an industry that brings in more money than movies aside it was brought on by their acquisition of TT Games, a partnership which spawned LEGO Batman.Â I fully encourage them to be intrigued by these newfangled things more often if it results in more games of that quality.